


Hourglass

by frozennightmare



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Cuddlefic, Fluff, I just like resurrecting people ok, M/M, UA, Universe Alterations, You can shove this under season 8 AU you want and it'll apply
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 06:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozennightmare/pseuds/frozennightmare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is too cold to sleep alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hourglass

It is here that time stops.  
In the undying cold of midwinter, tiny spiderwebs of ice creep their way across the windowpanes, seeming to crack the glass and let the cold creep in. It whispers in on these paper-thin breezes, tiny slashes of cold radiating inwards and cutting through the once-raging fire. It has sputtered down to a spark now, no watchers left awake to tend it.  
The cabin is a small, dark-wood thing, built upon over generations by the hunters who passed this way, sigils and spells worked into every inch of the woodwork. There's only one room; a testament to its age, one room with a massive hearth and a single desk covered in maps and case files. A few hours earlier, the room had been a flurry of movement, filled with the low murmur of voices and the soft scratch of pens mapping out details into paper. Now there is just silence, hardly even a crackle from the dying hearth, and time is frozen in place.  
There's only one bed in the room, intended for a single sleeper, but to hell with that.  
It's far too cold to sleep alone.  
Dean's phone is glowing with unread text messages on the bedside table, all but one from Sam

_Where are you guys? You should have been back by now._

_Did something go wrong? It was just a wendigo._

_Dean, is everything ok?_

_Seriously, what are you two up to?_  
And the last one, the only one that Dean has bothered to read.  
 _...nevermind. I don't want to know. See you in a couple days._  
There's also one from Bobby, less mother-hen and more triumphant smug.  
 _Take all the time you want. Sam owes me twenty bucks_.  
They are curled up together in that too-small bed, Cas resting one hand on where his handprint is burned into Dean's shoulder beneath his pajamas, the other arm resting lazily across Dean's shoulders. Cas's hair is a feathery, ruffled mess, sticking up every which way, and every once in a while Dean will unknowingly ruffle it again with his chin. The tangle keeps them warm from the forest of snow, living off the heat of each other.  
They've shared smaller spaces before-it's a king-sized bed compared to the sleeping bag in Purgatory. That wasn't even comfortable, but it was better than sleeping alone.  
It's not like that happened that often out there, either. The watch schedule demanded they each rescind some of their sleep; monsters usually ate up the rest. It was only when Benny got that look, the "you two are pathetic" look he only got when Cas unexpectedly grabbed onto Dean's hand or something similarly couplish, that he shook his head with a smile and announced he'd take their watches so they could crawl to sleep together. Even then, Cas refused to meet his eyes properly; too scared to get close, knowing full well he was planning on staying behind.  
It's too bad for him,then, that Dean doesn't let go. Doesn't let go of his cement grip on Cas the entire way up the hill, doesn't release his hand when the leviathans spring, doesn't let go even when Cas does. He promised himself he wouldn't, so he doesn't.  
Of course Cas hated himself for it, blaming himself somehow in that twisted mind of his, but he'll never say it.  
He's better, now. Saving their lives enough times seems to given back some of his spirit.  
Dean secretly liked to think he's the cause of that.  
Maybe he's right.  
They sleep like that, stitched together like rag dolls, until the first cable of sunlight started to peep through the icy cracks in the windows. It graced the floor first, melting the permafrost that seeps up through the floor, clapping the coals with a smirk, freeing the air of some of its chill. Some, not all. It's still Canada; it's going to be fucking cold no matter what.  
The bright sun finally touched the edge of the bed, waking Dean up first. He blearily rolled just enough to the side to check his phone, smiling a bit at Bobby's windfall, then falls back over into Cas's arms and goes back to sleep.  
It's that slow kind of winter morning; the kind where you have no incentive good enough to leave the warmth of your bed and the cold weighs down your bones with every step. It's the kind in which you take your time, enjoying every last second you have before having to get up at last.  
Cas reaches out to grab his arm just as he's gathered the resolve to climb out of bed, ruining his well-intentioned plans with even better ones.  
"Stay." he purrs, curled around Dean like a cat. His eyes are tiny planets of blue, spinning endlessly and weighed with ancient knowledge.  
Not a bad thing to wake up to.  
 _Not a bad thing at all_ , Dean thinks as he leans over to brush his lips against Castiel's.  
So maybe it's ten, maybe it's twelve before they finally get up. So what? The wendigo's dead. They've got a couple days, thanks to Bobby. They have time and the road and the Impala and each other, and that's plenty.  
It's a "hunter's honeymoon" at it's finest-what most hunters consider the extreme of their relationships, the ending point after which they go their seperate ways and maybe hook up again once or twice.  
But the rules and conventions no longer apply to them.  
The soft click of winter's clock goes on as it stores away another long night into its endless bank, letting the day emerge in that meandering creep of sunlight and morning kisses.  
It is here that time begins.

**Author's Note:**

> It's 90 - something degrees as I write this. Irony is a wonderful thing. (Actually, I'm just hiding in the air conditioned comfort of my room and wishing it was cold.) 
> 
> Yes, I didn't die this summer. Yes, I'm coming back. I was just taking a break. Your weekly updates will return soon. As in a week or two. Depending on school.
> 
> Thanks to Daughterofmorpheus for betaing this and then actually uploading this to AO3 decided to crash on me. (DOM: Hi guys. c: ) Hunny, you are incredible. (DOM: Awww, thanks. You are too. )
> 
> Playlist: Inscape by Stateless


End file.
